GROWING OR DYING---SIMPLE AS THAT

 

II Peter 3:18 - But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever, amen.

Simple.....grow. Do not remain in the same state spiritually.  Do not stop seeking Jesus in your daily life.  There are only two states of existence in this world... 

#1 - Growing

#2 - Dying

You are either doing one or the other. You cannot remain static in your relationship with Christ. What's more, why would someone want to. Why would someone come for salvation and then believe that it was all over. Nothing left to do. Sit back and enjoy life because you had your golden ticket punched. Next stop...heaven. 

To me, when the verse says we are to grow in grace and knowledge, such a thing takes place because I have a desire to grow. I have an inner urging to not be satisfied with my understanding of who God is. I don't read Scripture because I have to........I do it because I want to. I want to take verses and turn them over...turn them inside and out, all the while asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth that God intends me to see. What's more, I want to take what I have been shown and taught, and apply it to my daily life. 

So the call we read about in II Peter 3 is for us to grow in THE grace. Grace that can only come from the Father. James Ryles defined grace as being "The empowering presence of God in my life, that enables me to be who He created me to be, and to do what He has called me to do."

Grace is a force...

Grace is a power that can only be found in God, given to us by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. But this grace is given for a purpose. Give to all who believe that we may GROW into the people God created us to be. The devil's primary aim is to keep us from becoming the people of God, moving and living under the "Empowering Presence" of God in our lives.

Keep mindful of God today as you go out to your job, to the market, to school. That you have given yourself to someone far greater than yourself to be used for His purpose.

Find His rest...

Rest in His peace....

In that peace, be filled with His Joy

God on you...

michael b.

WHERE ARE THE TEARS?

 

Crying Again

by: Mark Heard

The headlines in the dailies are the horses in a race.

They lead you to believe that life and death are common place

Some believe it

and I'm crying again

I heard some good intentions, not all were second hand

But bravado and pretension will not feed a hungry man

It's been said before

and I'm crying again

Very quietly the world loses blood over night

without a fight

In the morning, the sickness will hide from the light

out of sight

Running from a world that they will never understand

The masses ride their passions with the throttle in their hands

Nobody knows

what is waiting 'round the bend.

Very quietly the world loses blood overnight

without a fight

In the morning, the sickness will hide from the light

out of sight

Now and then the criminal in my skin lets out a sigh

He'd like to think he's innocent but he cannot tell a lie

the truth is like a knife

and I'm crying again.

and I'm crying again.
and I'm crying again.

Luke 19:41 -  When He (Jesus) approached, He saw the city and wept over it.

He knew what was going to happen to Jerusalem.
He knew the pain and hurt and sorrow that would be common place like cheap wares in the market.

He wept.

Do we see that kind of burden today?
Do we see people weeping over the state of cities and towns?
Do we care enough to pray and share or are we merely playing and dancing proclaiming the goodness of God? What? We are not to proclaim His goodness? Yes! We are. But I don't believe we do such from a "Look at me if you want to see how good God is!" mentality.

I do not want to be a crier of depressing news or words....
But I do want the truth of God inside of me.
I want the truth of God no matter what.

I didn't ask for this and I do not come to you to proclaim myself to be a spiritual giant in any way.
But I was given a burden today.

A burden for those in addiction.

It was as if God opened my eyes and I truly saw that without Him....
Without the finished work of Jesus...
Without salvation and indwelling of God's Holy Spirit...

there was no hope....

There was no future.

What's more......
I am powerless.
I can't make God do anything.
I can only pray and ask...
"God will you come and open the hearts of those who have been birthed in spiritual darkness?"

"Will you bring salvation to our town."

The more I thought on the men, I began to see their wives....
I began to see children....
I saw girlfriends....
Mothers and Fathers.....
Brother and Sisters....
I saw a host of people who were in darkness also.
I prayed, "Oh God! Let there be light to these who don't know you."
Open their hearts to understand the gospel.

I have an urgency inside.
Like time is running out.
Maybe it's my time that is running out, I don't know.

But I do know this....

"How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach unless they are sent? "

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

I can't speak for anyone else, only myself.
But I think that days of joy are going to be replaced by another kind of joy.
A joy that isn't selfish and self centered.
Thoughts of self will be replaced by tears and concern for others.

As Jesus told his disciples, "Look! The fields are white for harvest."
I pray that the workers are not few.
I pray that just as the rain fell earlier this week....
The burden of the Lord would flood our churches

our home meetings..

When that burden is realized, I pray that a cry ascends to heaven before the throne of God

that would stir Him to loose a flood of salvation

as the word of God is spoken into the darkest of dark places.

Bring the light Lord!

Bring the light!

God on you....

mb

REAL LIFE---OR SIMPLY EXISTING?

 

"In that day," says the Lord,

"I will assemble the lame.

I Will gather the outcast, and those whom

I have afflicted.

I will make the lame a remnant,

And the outcast as strong nation."

so the Lord will reign over them in
Mount Zion from now on, even forever.

Recovery.....real recovery....is made possible by the empowering presence of Christ in a person's life. Oh, it is possible to stop using. It is possible to quit drinking. I know plenty who have simply "white knuckled" it and have willed themselves to not drink or use. But such are usually hard and their lives reflect the hardness. Quick to inject their view of their accomplishment of sobriety, they look down on others who cannot achieve what they have done. The "white-knuckler's" are usually very vocal against any mention of Jesus or God during a meeting. Such would take away from their feat of sobriety. Am I picking on these individuals? No. I celebrate their sobriety. But I mourn for the life they will never have. I mourn for the anger and bitterness they carry around. I mourn for the relationship they don't have, with the one who created them.

It is my true belief that since 1998, God has been at the forefront of raising up a community of men and women who have been delivered from the dark life of addiction. Those who have been part of receiving this new life have formed a strong nation, and it is my privilege and honor to be able to count them as friends. More than friends, they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. God is delivering a people, just as He did with the Hebrews when they were in slavery in Egypt. He is calling them out of the chains and slavery of addiction. Never was the Egyptian as hard a task master as addiction is. It demands a surrender of everything you hold dear. It takes your family, all your relationship's, your property, your money, your freedom, your health.....and eventually your life. Death doesn't free the user, death only cements their destiny based on their choices, or lack of choice, made during their life. In other words, if the individual does not turn will and life over to the care of God (Salvation), then death becomes the exclamation point to a life that was stolen by the devil. Death proclaims, "One more for the kingdom of darkness."

That is why I'm so passionate about reaching out to people who are in addiction. To show them the Father and His love. To introduce them to Jesus, the One who can free them...and to teach them about the Holy Spirit...the comforter...the guide and teacher who will guide them daily. So that they can have more than recovery.........that they can have more than sobriety.....that they can have, and experience real life. Not merely exist in a drug induced haze of lies and half truths.

But coming to such truth can be a bit overwhelming to the one experiencing it. That is why Vineyard Recovery Church exists. We are a birthing room, if you will, where a person can learn about this new life. A place where their questions can be answered, if possible, and they become more aware of how to live in a new way. As they grow and mature, then we want to direct them to a fellowship that can meet their needs, that will become a home for them. 

If you have a free Saturday night, come out and join us....
Our meeting is open and you do not have to be in addiction to attend.
We are about recovery....

Last time I checked, we are all recovering from the fall in the garden.

God on you...

mb 

Audrey

 Funny how as I've gotten older what I once thought was "old" doesn't seem that way any more. What's more is how images are forever etched in mind of people and places from my past. Audrey Brooks shook off this mortal coil we call a body and crossed over into the presence of the one who created her.

You see, no matter how many reunions I went to....no matter how many pictures I saw of Audrey on Facebook......this is how I will always remember her. She was a combination of Pollyanna and Nancy Drew. Always moving, always thinking, but never too busy to share a smile, a joke, or an encouraging word. 

I know that when we left Etowah High a few years back, we all had hopes and dreams of what our future held. What we found out as the years rolled on was that family and friends were all truly mattered. I was fortunate to have been a part of the class of 1969. As the list of those from our class, who are no longer with us, grows, so does my fondness for the memories that are like presents I get to unwrap and enjoy one more time.

I got out my annual from '69. Audrey was editor-in-chief of the annual that year. She put her own personal touch to it that seemed to say, "Yes! We were different. We were the last graduating class of the decade, and the future is ours."

Over the past few months I have enjoyed reconnecting with classmates, seeing photo's of their family, and sending messages to each other. I particularly loved seeing Audrey's paintings. Now I'm not an art critic, but I know what I like and I truly loved the color and simplicity of her work. In many ways, it was like Audrey was remembering who she was, and the love she had for life.

This morning all I know is that there is one less voice that was a part of our lives. As sad as I am, I rest in the hope and knowledge that God is who He claim's to be, and will do what He has promised He would do. What I believe......Audrey now knows the complete truth of it.

Thanks for making our lives a little richer Audrey....

michael b.

JUST JESUS

 

John 10:9
"I am the door.........If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."

The words of Christ.
He refers to Himself as "the door".
An opening....
An entry point...
An entry point to salvation. 
Funny how we think church is the entry point. That Sunday School is the entry point.
We spend vast amounts of energy and time to get people to church, hoping they find Jesus.
Nothing wrong with Sunday School, or church. But what if the entry point, the door so to speak, was Jesus + love? What if we loved people toward the real door, Jesus? The one thing I really want to get right before I exit this old world, it's learning how to love like Jesus did. Not some syrupy, sugary mess that does  nothing but soothe the flesh/old nature. No! I want to give away heaven-love, divine-love, Jesus love. 
I just want folks to run into the Jesus that changed my life. Changed my life and called me to join Him in the greatest adventure a body could know. Navigating this thing we call life, here on earth, all the way to the end........and then some. It's an adventure because there are going to be some bumps along the way. Oh pish-posh...let's get real. We probably are going to get ourselves stuck in a ditch and need hauling out. Then there will probably be....
Pitfalls....
Traps.....
Dishonest people who will not have your best interest at heart.
People who will try to manipulate you.
People who look like they too are following Jesus, like you, but are really wolves in sheep clothing. They live to draw followers away into spiritual darkness.

The mission, or reason we exist, of Vineyard Recovery Church is very simple. We want to help others find "the door".
We want to shed ourselves of any religious trapping or jargon that might cause someone else to put up a wall (emotionally and/or spiritually) to not hear the great news that Jesus really is who He claims to be.

Some have accused me...well, maybe accused is to harsh of a word...
Let's say that some have suggested that my teaching is very shallow.
I prefer to think of it as simple.
The people we are blessed to serve come with all manner of baggage.
Low self worth....
They don't trust many, if anyone at all.
They are very skittish to anything that smells, looks like or sounds like what they have constructed in their minds to be church.
Such is one of the reasons that we hold our service on Saturday night. It won't fit their mold of what they think church is or should be.
We want to love them into a place where they can receive the truth about Jesus, and what He desires for them.

We really believe that the Holy Spirit is fully capable of speaking to everyone who comes through our doors on Saturday night. So it isn't my job to wrangle, beg, cajole anyone into making "A decision for Christ". He, the Holy Spirit, is a lot better at bringing conviction to someones heart than I am. If a person leaves our meeting on Saturday night, and Jesus is the last thing on their mind and heart.......we haven't done a real good job at what we've been called to do. But if they leave with questions about themselves AND about Jesus...well, that will be fertile ground for the Holy Spirit to work in. That is our desire.

One last thing...
We are not looking to build anything.
A church...
A congregation...
We're going to let God do that. What He decides to build may not be all under our roof.
It may go to some other town.
It may settle in some other existing church and be the catalyst that causing someone else to find the "Jesus door".
You see what some refer to as Vineyard Recovery Church is a lot larger than the number of folks who gather on Saturday night.
It covers many towns and communities.
It is carried out by those who have come to be with us for at least 7 weeks, sometimes more.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you can't measure what God has done, and continues to do with our meeting, using the old standards and measurements some churches still use. I want VRC to be measured by the quality of people who have come rather than the quantity of people. 

We meet every other Saturday night at 7 p.m. Our next meeting will be on SEPT. 3rd.
You are welcome to come and see what we're all about.
I've had several people ask if you have to be an addict or alcoholic to come to our meeting. No. Everyone is welcomed.
We're all about talking about the real POWER behind the Twelve Steps. That would be the Triune God.....Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So as a people, we of VRC want to "Follow In His STEPS!"

God on you...
mb

ACCOUNTING 101

 

Luke 9:25

For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?

We tend to live our lives without thought or care as to the eternal ramifications to the decisions we make.
We have a band-aid mentality when it comes to dealing with the issues and situations life throws at us every day.

We want to do only what is necessary to stop the pain now. Never mind the consequences that may come later.

Even in our relationship with Jesus, we want him to come and take the pain, remove the hurt and make everything better. What does it profit us to gain relief from pain if we don't see or understand the eternal things of God.'

In the Matthew passage we are told that there is a trade off.

Either decide for the temporal things of this world, or decide for the eternal presence and relationship with God. Since most live by their appetites a.k.a. sinful nature, we feed the one that screams the loudest. That would be our sin nature.

In the process of doing so, we are losing our very lives.

We can't see because the sin appetite demands attention now.

We can't hear because the sin appetite demands to be fed now.

Verse 24 reads:

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

All a matter of dying to self.

A surrender of will and choice to live by the will and choice of God.

A walking out daily of refusing to have my way in order to embrace His way.

God help us all....

TIME

 

Ephesians 5:15-16 / See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Time....we all are given the same amount everyday. Twenty-four hours to move forward in journey called life.  Some day's time seems like it has been strapped to the back of a turtle. It creeps along.....it moves like molasses...it takes forever. How many times have I thought to myself, "Will this day never end?"

But then there are days when times seems to be a supersonic rocket reaching mach 6 and beyond. Such days as this time seems to be controlling us...rushing us....pushing us to the limit.

Truth is time is a constant. It never changes. Only my perception of the speed (or lack of speed) of time changes. The verse from Ephesians seems to put time in perspective for me. 

#1 - God has called us to live our daily lives in a certain manner. Not haphazardly, running around like a chicken with its legs cut off. We have been called to walk "circumspectly". Strong's Concordance defines circumspectly as "exactly w/ no deviation." It means to walk diligently, or with a purpose, and it means to walk "perfectly", or one having maturity. In other words, God wants us to grow up before we grow older. 

#2 - Taking this to heart, God calls us to "redeem" the time we have. Here again Strong's defines this as "taking back" or "rescuing". In other words, we have been called to not let the devil or his minions draw us into wasting time. Wasting time means that we use it according to our own desires and wishes rather than asking God what would He have us do with the time we have been given.

The part we have to be careful with in "redeeming" the time is that we don't become super religious. In other words, life becomes more about how we look to others than it does about how God wants us to be about His Kingdom Business.

These verses from Ephesians have caused me to look at my own life. To take kind of a "TIME" inventory of my daily activity. Do I waste it on myself? Or am I truly taking back this 24 hours for God's glory. Never forget that if you are a follower of Jesus, then you are a kind of walking around, breathing, eating and sleeping billboard for those around you. In other words, our actions, attitudes, and choices are evident to those we come in contact with. So does my billboard point to Christ...or does it provide others with an excuse to stay away from anything to do with God.

I think maybe I need to take a long look at my own billboard today.

God on you...

michael b.

AN ALTAR? REALLY?

 



Taken from the Message Bible:

Romans 12 1-2

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life -- Your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life---and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit in without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention of God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

The Message Bible isn't my favorite translation, but I just can't get away from the way this passage is worded. It truly is that STEP # 3 point where you are brought face to face with a choice that has to be made.

Many simply don't want to choose and think that by not doing so, they are off the hook for the time being. They don't understand that by not choosing to surrender life and turn the focus of my will over to Christ, is only going to keep me under the bondage of my addiction. We have a million reasons why we can't make the turn to Jesus, but they all crumble and are left in a heap at our feet in the glorious light of His truth.

This choice I make isn't a simply nod of my head as accepting God.

It isn't a mental ascent that I have to wrap my brain around.

It is a heart-invasion by God's Holy Spirit, illuminating all the darkness in me with the glorious light of God's mercy and grace.

Who would not want that? Who would not want to be free from the legacy and history of addiction in their life? Praise God that it is more than a thought or concept. More than an idea or formula. It is life itself poured out on those who accept Jesus and what He has done into their life. This acceptance means that I turn the reins over and allow Him to drive. I simply follow. I bask in His love and acceptance of me as this Jesus grows me and stretches me so that I can be the man He knew I could all along.

It's scary climbing up on that altar of surrender. You feel so vulnerable and open to the world. Truth be known, it is the safest place a person could be. It is a place of trust as we let go of the old ways to embrace this new life Jesus is offering to us.
Go for it !

God on you....

mb



WOULD WE CONTINE? WOULD WE CARRY ON

 

Revelation 5:12
Saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"

Pretty good message isn't it?
That would get up all in our praise and worship services, would it not?
God has had me pondering something this morning.
What if Saturday night, when we were ready to start the meeting at Vineyard Recovery, we suddenly lost our lighting on the stage. I'm not talking about the power going out. I'm talking about it suddenly vanished.

Then the coffee bar disappeared. Cups, creamer, sugar, stir sticks, coffee pot, all just vanished. This was followed by all our instruments and sound equipment. Gone...like a black hole had suddenly appeared and just sucked everything up. What would we do?

What if one by the one the things we had become accustomed to and comfortable with in our service, were removed from our very presence, until all that was left was an empty room, and the word of God, His Bible.

Would we carry on?
Or would we feel like something was amiss. That there was an emptiness to all that we had put in place to enhance the Saturday meeting.  Would we even continue to meet? God is asking a very important question. Does your service feed the flesh, or awaken the spirit? This is something that I am constantly weighing out when it comes to Vineyard Recovery. I get invitations each  from people who want to come and speak, or want to come and lead worship. Usually the conversation is filled with a lot "Me" and "I" and not a lot of God. Such invitations are usually turned down by me. If Jesus isn't the center and focal point of what you want to bring to the service, then don't bother. It really isn't about me or whoever may come....it has to be about Jesus and the message of the good news only He can offer.

Never, never, never forget the message of who Jesus is.
Never, never, never forget the message of what Jesus can do.
Now I'm  not against stages and lights and equipment and coffee bars. I just don't want those things to get in the way of the message. If all people remember when they leave our service is that the music was good and the coffee was great.......then I have failed miserably to do what God has called me to do. But if they go away changed by the word and presence of God, then we have something we can build on.

Everything we do, as believers, has to come from a heart which has been touched and changed by God. Everything else is gravy. Jesus is the main course. 
I guess the main reason I wrote this posting is to remind me to be thankful for the place that God has provided at Vineyard Gadsden. I love the building and the room that we hold our services in. But if Jesus isn't the focal point, then we are no better than a social club with no purpose other than to stroke each others ego. God help us should we ever fall into that place.

God on you...
mb

FIRST STEP OF THE DAY

 

Ephesians 1:3
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

Every day begins with a first step.
Getting out of bed.....
Or getting up off the couch....
Out of the recliner....
No matter where you might be when you wake up....
You take that first step into a journey that hopefully will take you through the next twenty four hours.

With that first step, we very seldom automatically begin to organize or orchestrate what the day may hold. We move our way into the day. Each day begins with a first step, but each day also begins with the promise we read in Ephesians 1:3. As I've written in the past, "either this God-stuff, and the promises we read are true.....or it's all a lie and we might as well go to Shoney's for Strawberry pie".  In my case, I fall on the side that God's promises are true. As we woke up this morning and got out of bed, we were already in possession of whatever we need to face this day. What part of "EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING" do we not get? Well, for the most part, those blessings may be intangible...we don't feel them, see them, or can touch them. But those blessings are there none the less. And when we walk by faith in Jesus, they are more than real. As I move through my day, I am trusting that Jesus will guide me and keep me......no matter what my brain may tell me, or no matter what I see with my own eyes....I know that God has granted to me everything I need to navigate this present 24 hours in front of me.

Maybe this FIRST STEP I'm writing about this morning is tied to the first step of A.A.
"We admitted that we were powerless over alcohol/drugs---that our lives have become unmanageable."
Maybe these two "first steps" or connected.
We are powerless...
God has granted to us every spiritual blessing....
I cannot take hold of these blessings from God until I come to the realization that I am powerless. As long as I think I possess power, I have no need for God or His blessings.
What is the measure of someone who is powerless?
A life that has become unmanageable due to our being powerless.
Maybe the presence of God in my life, along with His blessings, give me the power to get my life back together. 

Ephesians 2:9
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Salvation....me confessing my wrong, and a heart that is broken because of that wrong, is the starting point for my new life. I confess to God and then (by faith) receive His forgiveness. A funny thing happens when we do this....He, God, places His Holy Spirit in us to guide us through this new life journey. WE continue to be powerless, but now we have a Power greater than ourselves who is calling the shots, so to speak. Salvation is a gift....
With this gift comes the call to obedience....
And it is our obedience that opens the door to these spiritual blessings that will be part of the equation that we need to walk through this day.

Today, I don't have to be Powerless any more....
Today, my life doesn't have to be unmanageable....
Today, I have been blessed.

God on you...
mbb

REVISITING AN ENCOUNTER WITH JESUS

 Sometimes I need to revisit truth in the Scriptures.

I need to not just read the words but see them for how they affect me and my life.
What is really being said? Is it relevant for me? What do I need to "see" in the words?
In Matthew 8, Jesus, fresh from the sermon on the mount, is making his way down the mountain. The Bible says that "great multitudes" followed him. Seems to be the norm for Jesus. We might call them "hanger on" today. No matter what the reason they followed, there they were. Some came because of curiosity. Some thinking that Jesus just might be the Messiah they had been waiting for. Some because it was merely something to do. Don't we do the same thing today? Some go to church because that is the social setting they need to connect with people. Some go because it is tradition, "we've always gone to church." Some go in hopes that God may in fact show up and do something. Some go out of desperation because life is so painful that they need Jesus to touch and heal them.

At the bottom of the mountain.....(Isn't that the place that is best when it comes to meeting Jesus? At the bottom....) Jesus encounters a man who has leprosy. Not a popular fellow with the others. I'm sure that some objected that Jesus would even stop to speak to this man. It didn't fit their idea of how a religious man should operate. Thank goodness that Jesus was not religious! This leper came on a mission. He was going to fall before Jesus and see if he could be healed. He could not go on living with this disease any longer. It was either be healed or die. Funny thing, in the Matthew 8 passage it says that the leper "worshipped him (Jesus)". Even though the objective of the leper was about himself, he acknowledged that Jesus was the answer. Jesus had the power to heal. Jesus was the source of life that this man needed, so he (the leper) began by falling on his face and worshipping Jesus. Don't you know that this really stirred up the religious folks. "Someone take this man away...such a show of  low character to try and manipulate Jesus to do something."

The leper speaks ----
"If you will, you can make me clean."
Did you catch that?
The leper does not doubt Jesus' ability to heal him.
He doubts himself that he is worthy to receive such a gift.
He knows that he has nothing to give in return for such a wonderful gift.
"I know you can heal me.............I'm just not sure you want to."
Aren't we like that leper?
We know that God is who He says He is, we just doubt that we are important enough, or that we have favor with God for Him to act in our lives.
Notice what Jesus does.............
"Jesus put forth his hand and touched him."
Before any words were spoken....
Before any healing took place.....
Jesus laid his hand upon this man and took his disease away.
Jesus speaks to the leper....
"I will............be thou clean."
Three little words.....
Be...
Thou....
Clean....
I can say these three words and they have no power...
The one who spoke the world into existence can say them and the very atomic level of the disease, the molecular structure of leprosy is destroyed and not only that, but the skin is restored and made new.
That is powerful!
Why do we doubt that Jesus truly wants to speak into our lives...into our very being...the core of who we are ....and heal us. Today is the day that we come to Jesus, like the leper, and fall on our face and worship him. "You, Lord have the power to change me.....I am here for you to do so."
Let the change of God take place deep within you today.....
Make yourself available for that change to take place......
You might surprised as to what happens....

God on you..........
mb

PLEASING SELF? OR PLEASING GOD?

 

II Corinthians 5:9
Therefore, also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him (God)

No thought to my own selfish desires that have gotten me in trouble. No thought to my own selfish desires that have brought about destruction in my life. My focus now is on pleasing God. Turning away from the darkness of addiction to the light of surrender and receiving this new life in Christ, I have a single purpose ....to please Him. That my life might reflect the goodness that has been given to me. Addiction commands us to bow our knee to the demands of "SELF". We do what "Self" tells us to. If we need money to satisfy self....we'll do what ever it takes to get the money. Self rules the day. But in this new life, our focus turns outward to a life spent in pleasing God. Funny part about pleasing God is that there aren't any hoops to jump through. Pleasing God is a matter of "BEING" not doing.

Ephesians 5:8 & 10
For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: Walk as children of light.
Trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Here again the focus of my life should be going about my daily activities, but allowing God's Holy Spirit to direct me each moment. With every decision made, our aim should be to please God. How can I know what pleases God? Get in the book....a.k.a the Bible. Read it. Study it. Digest it. You might be surprised at what happens.

John 8:29
"And He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."
Why should I live my life to please God? Because when Jesus walked this earth, that was His goal. To be pleasing to His Father. To do only those things that He knew would please Him. What things actually please God. Well, for starters.........how about Obedience. Simply doing what we are told to do. Wow! I could have had a V-8!!!!

Luke 9:23
And He said to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."
Pleasing God begins with dying to self. Realizing that this new relationship we have with Christ, began with the act of us dying. Now we are resurrected to a new way of living. One that has no place for selfish, self-centered thoughts and desires. This is so opposite of the way the world system operates, but it is the economy of heaven. I can only cease to be selfish when I truly trust God that He will meet my needs and has my best interest at heart. Then and only then can I truly walk out a life that is pleasing to Him. All of this that I  have wrote of this morning is a process. It is growth and learning and messing up and being forgiven. But it truly is the heart of God. 

God on you......
mb